Senate Republicans on Tuesday knocked down another Democratic-led attempt to force an end to the Iran war despite the defection of four GOP members.
The 47-48 vote on the war powers resolution came as President Donald Trump has insisted a peace agreement with Tehran is all but signed.
Ahead of the vote, Senate Foreign Relations Chair Jim Risch (R-Idaho) slammed Democrats for forcing the vote as Trump attempted to clinch a peace plan. The unlikely passage of the war powers limits, he argued, would upend those efforts.
“If that miracle happened, do you think Iran would sign the deal that has been negotiated? Of course not,” Risch said.
Tuesday’s action came nearly a month after the chamber advanced a similar war powers measure which called for the withdrawal of U.S. forces from the Middle East, and two weeks after the House voted to limitTrump’s military authorities in Iran.
But absences in the Senate doomed hopes of a third rebuke for the president. Five senators — two Republicans and three Democrats — missed the vote.
GOP Sens. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Rand Paul of Kentucky broke ranks to support the legislation. Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania was the only Democrat opposed.
The political fault lines in the Senate remained largely unchanged from May. The White House’s announcement of a long-term deal on Sunday failed to sway lawmakers’ opinions on the matter.
Still, many GOP lawmakers have signaled they still have plenty of questions about the “memorandum of understanding” between the two countries, and whether it ultimately could end up with an agreement similar to the nuclear pact the Obama administration struck with Iran. Trump withdrew from that agreement in his first term.
As with the Obama-era plan, many GOP lawmakers are adamant that any deal touching on Iran’s nuclear program be subject to a vote by Congress. A chief concern for many defense hawks is whether Iran would be permitted to enrich uranium to near-weapons-grade levels.
GOP leaders have dismissed the war power votes as performative and aimed at embarrassing Trump. They also said the move is unnecessary given the impending peace plan, set to be signed Friday.
The White House condemned the resolution ahead of Tuesday’s vote and threatened to veto the measure.
“The joint resolution attempts to legislate away essential Article II authority and could create immediate, material risks to U.S. forces, allies and missions,” administration officials said in a statement obtained by POLITICO.
“In addition, the broad scope of the resolution risks creating uncertainty and operational paralysis in a crisis, while emboldening the Iranian regime and undermining the United States’ ability to speak with one voice in the midst of sensitive international negotiations,” the White House argued.
But Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), who has been a leader on the resolutions, said Tuesday that news of a ceasefire extension or more permanent deal highlight the importance of Congress reasserting its role in war declarations.
“The way to get us in the mix on both continuing the war and considering if a [peace] deal is sufficient enough is to vote for a war powers resolution,” he said.
About 50,000 U.S. military personnel engaged in Middle East operations related to the war, which has been in a ceasefire since April 8. Trump over the weekend announced that U.S. and Iranian negotiators had reached a new peace deal, but details of that plan have yet to be released to Congress or the public.
Felicia Schwartz contributed to this report.
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